Binder assembly



y 1966 G. P. SHILLINGER 3,262,454

BINDER AS SEMBLY Filed June 23, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. 660/665 2 swam/6E? ATTORNEYS G. P. SHILLINGER BINDER ASSEMBLY July 26, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 23, 1964 INVENTOR. 'flfi 251 4101656 BY ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,262,454 BINDER ASSEMBLY George P. Shillinger, 735 Wendover Blvd., Muskegon, Mich. Filed June 23, 1964, Ser. No. 377,294 1 Claim. (Cl. 129-1) This invention relates to loose leaf binders, and more particularly -to a manually attachable detachable ring assembly for loose leaf binder jackets.

The page holding ring assemblies of conventional loose leaf binders usually either have two or three snap open, metal rings to hold the pages in rigid covers, or alter natively a large number of adjacent resilient, split plastic rings that retain both the pages and cover sheets.

The metal ring type is relatively complex and expensive due to the support back ridge allowing ring spreading. It must be manufactured by special equipment and techniques. The plastic ring type is less expensive due to its structural simplicity. However, it requires special machinery to open all of the rings simultaneously for assembly of cover sheets and pages. Consequently, after the sheets and covers are prepared in a print shop, the printer must assemble them on special equipment in his shop or send them to a binder for assembly on his special machines.

Neither type enables removal of the ring structure from the cover jacket once it is assembled. Only the metal ring type enables page removal without tearing unless special equipment is used.

It is an object of this invention to provide a relatively inexpensive binder than enables the ring assembly to be installed manually at a print shop or the like, without requiring any special machinery. The complete assembly of the loose leaf booklet can, therefore, be prepared in a few seconds time by a person having no special skill and utilizing no special tools.

Another object of this invention is to provide a loose leaf binder employing easily assembled plastic ring and ring lock structures that can be formed relatively inexpensively by conventional forming techniques, and assembled when and where desired.

It is another object of this invention to provide an inexpensive plastic ring loose leaf binder that enables pages to be subsequently manually inserted or removed with little effort.

These and several other objects of this invention will become apparent upon studying the following specification in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective fragmentary view of a loose leaf binder forming the first form of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective exploded view of the two main components with a jacket and forming the first form of this invention;

. FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, perspective view of the components illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an end elevational view of the components illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3;

'FIG. 5 is a perspective, exploded view of the main components of a second form of this invention;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary, sectional, elevational view of the components in FIG. 5 being combined with the back edge of a jacket; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the components in FIG. 6 as assembled.

Referring now specifically to the first form of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 through 4, the complete binder assembly 10 includes a jacket which has a front cover page 12, a back cover page 14, and an intermediate connecting back edge 16.

On the inner face of this back edge is mounted an elongated plastic plate or strip 218 extending substantially 3,262,454 Patented July 26, 1966 ICC the length of the back edge. Protruding inwardly into the jacket from the exposed face surface of this strip are a plurality of spaced, resilient, split plastic rings 250.

Each ring has portions that overlap for page retention after insertion.

The plastic components may be of several suitable materials such as polyethylene, vinyl polymers, nylon, or others with suflicient strength, resiliency, and forming capacity to assume the desired configurations. In the broadest aspects these may be formed of other materials such as metals, e.g. spring steel.

It is conceivable that the particular type of locking structure and the particular structure of the interlocking strips and/ or the connectors therebetween can be modified somewhat within the broader aspects of this invention.

Along the outer face of the back edge is a second elongated strip 226 to cooperate with strip 218 to form basic interlocking components. Element 226 is formed with a slight arcuate configuration and a concave inner surface that fits against the outside face of back edge 216. Also, preferably element 218 is bowed slightly inwardly.

Element 226 includes spaced lateral projections, each i with an enlarged head 229 and a smaller neck 235. The

disc-shaped head is smaller in diameter than a corresponding through opening 231 in element 218, but larger in diameter than an adjacent opening 233 connected to opening 231 by a slot 241. The slot has a diameter slightly larger than neck 235. A countersunk recess 237 slightly larger than head 229 is provided on opening 233 to receive the head and enable a flush fit to be obtained upon interconnection of the locking components. The openings and connecting slot comprise receiving sockets.

Assembly of these components basically follows the movements indicated by the arrows in FIG. 3. The two elongated resilient elements are placed on opposite sides of back edge 216 so that the lower element is slightly offset longitudinally from the upper element to enable enlarged head 229 to fit through opening 231. Normally, the head will not pass clear through the opening until the elements are deformed temporarily together to a generally flattened condition. When the strip is deformed, the head passes through the opening. Element 226 is then slid longitudinally with respect to element 218 and the back edge to move head 229 over opening 233. Upon release of the deforming pressure, the inherent resilient bias of the curved element 226 pulls head 229 down into countersunk recess 237 for an interlocked connection. The natural resiliency of the plastic retains the interlock and prevents accidental disassembly of the unit.

Purposeful disassembly of the structure is accomplished by reversal of the steps, i.e. pressing the strips together, sliding element 226 back, and allowing head 229 to withdraw from opening 231 upon release of pressure due to inherent resiliency of the strip.

It will be noticed that the unique rings 250 which form an integral part of element 218, actually are spaced from the receiving sockets and heads. Element 218 also preferably includes a unique channel 254, the back edge of which serves as a stop surface for inserted pages, to facilitate simple assembly of pages into the notebook. Yet, the rings retain the pages once inserted since the pages rest on edge 255. This particular ring and strip structure is described and claimed more particularly in my copending application entitled RING, Serial No. 377,592, filed June 24, 1964.

SECOND FORM More specifically, referring to FIGS. 5 through 7, the

interlocking, elongated, resilient, plastic components 318 and 326 are slightly arcuate in configuration. Element 326 has male-type protrusions, each having a head 329 on an adjacent slotted neck portion 335. These protrusions interfit with the circular openings or sockets 331 in element 318. The openings preferably have a countersunk, upper enlarged recess 337 coaxial therewith to receive the larger diameter collars to be described, and form a flush fit when assembled. The outside element 326 also has a pair of deformable, resilient lip edges 327 which curl up to have a curvature greater than the curvature of the adjacent portions of element 318. When the two elements are pressed together over the jacket back edge, the lips must be resiliently deformed so that, upon release of the force, the resilient bias of the lip edges tends to force the two strips apart to draw the rigid, thin collars 350 tightly into the recesses. This binds the assembly together on the jacket. The two elements fit into interengaging relation with each other on opposite sides of back edge 316 of the loose leaf jacket. These plastic collars are normally unattached to the other components until assembly is complete.

Assembly is achieved by placing the two strips 318 and 326 on opposite sides of back edge 316 of the jacket, inserting the male members through openings in the back edge, pressing the elements together until the concave surfaces are forced together against the inherent bias of the resilient strip. The male members are inserted as far as possible. Then collars 350 are slid into slots 335 of each protrusion. When the elements are released, the resilient bias of element 326 retracts the collars back into countersunk recesses 337 in strip 318, to retain the assembly in an interlocked condition.

Rings 351 are integral with strip 318, as previously. The elongated concavity 333 forms a stop edge for the pages according to the principles of my copending application identified above.

It will be realized from observation of the forms of the invention illustrated that each of these has advantages for some particular uses. There are definite differences between the forms of the invention, but both have certain principles in common in the broader concept presented. It may be apparent to those in this field after studying these particular preferred forms of the invention, that certain other forms can be achieved by combining certain features and/or altering details of these modifications, yet without departing from the inventive concept presented. Accordingly, this invention is to be limited only by the scope of the appended claim and the reasonably equivalent structures to those defined therein.

I claim:

A loose leaf binder including a cover having a back panel, an elongated plastic plate located along the inside of said back panel, and having a plurality of integral, spaced sheet supporting rings extending from one face thereof away from said back, panel; a plurality of locking sockets therein, each including a through opening and a countersunk enlarged recess in said one face; an elongated plastic locking bar along the outside of said back panel, including a plurality of spaced projections extending through said back panel and said sockets; each of said projections having edge slots near to but spaced from the outer end thereof; a plurality of enlarged diameter slotted collars slidably engaged on respective ones of said projections in said edge slots and received in said recesses; and said locking bar including a pair of resilient, deformable, edge lips curled toward said back panel and, when assembled, being resiliently deformed and under compression to hold said collars into tight engagement with said recesses.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,599,526 9/1926 Hatz 129-23 1,895,972 1/1933 Childs 129-23 1,905,097 4/1933 Irving 1291 1,970,285 8/1934 Douvry 129-1 2,017,342 10/1935 Dawson 1291 X 2,157,872 5/1939 Trussell 28l25 2,280,184 4/1942 Brennan 28l-19 X 3,175,847 3/1965 McKowen 281-36 FOREIGN PATENTS 876,245 7/ 1942 France.

25,598 1911 Great Britain. 483,709 4/ 1938 Great Britain.

JEROME SCHNALL, Primary Examiner. 

